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Remembering the bravery of John Cruickshank, the last WW2 Victoria Cross recipient
4-5 minute read
By Ellie Ayton | August 19, 2025
In August 2025, the last surviving Victoria Cross recipient of the Second World War died at the age of 105, the last of a remarkable generation. Here, we honour his life and legacy and reflect on what they mean for us today.
John Cruickshank’s story is one of bravery, determination and sacrifice. A Second World War pilot, he helped to defend British vessels in the Norwegian Sea at significant cost to himself. Then, he flew while seriously injured to help his remaining crew make it safely home.
With his passing, a living link to one of history’s most defining chapters is gone. But we can still keep his story alive.
What is the Victoria Cross?
The Victoria Cross is no ordinary medal. It’s the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy honour that can be awarded to serving personnel of the British and Commonwealth Forces.
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Introduced by Queen Victoria in 1856 for acts of ‘most conspicuous bravery, an act of valour, or self-sacrifice’, the medal is struck from bronze. In its long history, it has been awarded only 1,358 times.
Who was John Cruickshank?
Born in Aberdeen in 1920, John Alexander Cruickshank joined the Territorial Army as the shadow of another world war loomed on the horizon. He served in the Royal Artillery from May 1939 until the summer of 1941, when he transferred to the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve.
John’s attestation in the Royal Artillery in 1939. You can view the full record here.
He quickly earned his wings in July 1942 after intensive flight training in the USA and Canada, and received an emergency commission as a flying officer that same month. Suddenly, John was thrust into the skies of the Second World War, piloting flying boats from RAF Sullom Voe in Shetland.
When did John Cruickshank receive his Victoria Cross?
On 17 July 1944, 24-year-old John took part in a life-defining mission.
He was piloting a Consolidated Catalina anti-submarine flying boat from Sullom Voe, patrolling north into the Norwegian Sea. He had a small, 10-man crew on board, including a second pilot and a navigator. His goal was to protect the British Home Fleet on its return journey from its unsuccessful raid on Tirpitz, a German battleship.
A Consolidated PBY Catalina, like one John would have flown, operating with RAF Coastal Command, pictured in the Findmypast Photo Collection in 1941.
But during the mission, John’s crew caught sight of a German U-boat.
John and his crew decided to attack the U-boat to protect the British Fleet. Their first attempt to drop depth charges on the U-boat failed. John had lost the element of surprise, but he turned the aircraft around and tried again. On his second pass of the vessel, the charges found the U-boat and sank it. Though he was successful, his bravery and determination to protect the Fleet were not without cost.
The roaring anti-aircraft fire from the U-boat killed the navigator, John Dixon, and injured a further four members of his crew. John himself sustained serious wounds, hit in 72 places, including in his lungs. Bleeding and barely conscious, John soldiered on. He had to get his crew home.
"He then collapsed and the second pilot took over the controls. He recovered shortly afterwards and, though bleeding profusely, insisted on resuming command and retaining it until he was satisfied that the damaged aircraft was under control, that a course had been set for base and that all the necessary signals had been sent. Only then would he consent to receive medical aid and have his wounds attended to. He refused morphia in case it might prevent him from carrying on."
Only once the Catalina was back on course and the radio signals were sent, John relinquished control to the second pilot.
"By pressing home the second attack in his gravely wounded condition and continuing his exertions on the return journey with his strength failing all the time, he seriously prejudiced his chance of survival even if the aircraft safely reached its base. Throughout, he set an example of determination, fortitude and devotion to duty in keeping with the highest traditions of the Service."
Against all odds, the aircraft made it back to base. John was so seriously injured that he had to receive a blood transfusion in the aircraft after it landed. John never returned to operational flying and left the RAF in 1946 to pursue a career in banking.
John’s Victoria Cross award can be found in our Medal Records.
On 29 August 1944, John was awarded the Victoria Cross for his immense bravery. King George VI himself bestowed the honour.
News of John’s Victoria Cross made the newspapers, like this article from the Birmingham Mail, 1 September 1944.
One article said that John ‘quietly’ left the Palace of Holyrood House in Edinburgh after the investiture.
John was described as ‘shy’ in the Daily Record, 22 September 1944.
In 2025, John was the last of 181 people to die who were awarded the Victoria Cross in World War Two. In 2008, he said:
"You don't get involved in that kind of thing thinking of any decorations or any recognition. It was regarded as duty."
Bob Kemp, a friend of John’s for over 30 years, said that John would travel to Shetland every year to place a wreath on John Dixon’s grave – a quiet act of remembrance, and a reminder of the bond between comrades.
We thank John and his crew for their bravery. His story reminds us that bravery is not the absence of fear, but the will to carry on despite it.
